Webbed furniture construction



p 1969 B. M. BAKER WEBBED FURNITURE- CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 22, 1967 5C9 INVENTOR P E K A EIZTRAND BY I masou gwusmk ad 9amowcfl J ATTORNEYS 3,464,479 WEBBED FURNITURE 'CONSTRUCTEON Bertrand M. Baker, Tropitone Furniture (10., Connmerce BlvtL, Highway 301, Sarasota, Fla. 33580 Filed Nov. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 686,382 Int. Cl. A47c 5/06, 7/22 US. Cl. 160327 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the field of furniture and is more particularly related to the field of outdoor or lawn furniture of the type employing a metal framework to which straps or webs of plastic or the like are attached.

Those skilled in the art have long recognized the need for economical, reliable and convenient means for attaching webs or straps to outdoor type furniture having metal frames. Numerous expedients have been employed for attaching such webs to furniture frames with varying degrees of success. For example, metal screws have been employed for clamping an end of a web to the frame by means of an intermediate plate, washer or the like in a variety of ways. Devices of this sort have not proven to be satisfactory in that they are difficult to install due to the tension in the web and the person installing such often causes the apertures in the frame in which the screw is received to be enlarged by overtightening of the screw due to the fact that the metal frame is usually formed of relatively soft aluminum as compared with the screw. Another deficiency of the prior known devices resides in the fact that the attaching screw sometimes become loose with a consequent loosening of the web attached thereby. While other devices have been employed, none of the known prior devices have enabled all of the desirable results of rapid, economical and reliable attachment of the webs to the furniture frames.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention consists of the attachment of furniture webs to metal frames by means of an impaling means consisting of a cylindrical rod portion having a domed cap attached to one end with an impaling means extending from the outer end of the domed cap. The cylindrical rod portion is passed through an aperture in the end of the web and is then snugly received in an aperture in the furniture frame. The web is then wrapped about the frame so that the inner surface of a web convolution then engages the impaling means and the domed cap. The other end of the web is attached to a second frame member in a similar manner so that tension of the web causes the fastener member to be maintained in the frame aperture and also causes the impaling means to impale the web to prevent movement of the web and retain the frame in its position.

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved web-type furniture construction.

3,464,479 Patented Sept. 2, 1969 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an item of furniture employing the subject invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 22 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which the webbing material is attached to the furniture framework.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGURE 1 in the form of a chaise lounge 20- which has a metal framework 22. Aluminum or other suitable metals can be employed for forming the frame; however, aluminum is the preferable material due to its strength and lightness. While a chaise lounge item of furniture is used for illustrating the invention, it should be understood that the invention can be employed in any type of furniture such as chairs, stools or the like which employ one or more Webs attached to a framework.

The frame 22 includes a first frame element 24 and a second frame element 26. Apertures 27 are provided along the length of the frame. Webs or straps 28 extend between the first frame element 24 and the second frame element 26. The web or straps are formed of plastic or other suitable material and are normally substantially flexible. Each end of each web contains an aperture 30 that is spaced inwardly from the respective end of the web. A fastening or connector means 32 formed of a unitary piece of metal such as aluminum or other satisfactory metal extends through each aperture 28 to connect the web to the frame elements. The fastening means consists of a cylindrical rod portion 34 which extends through a desired frame aperture 27 and also extends through aperture 30 in the end of the web. A domed cap 36 having a domed outer surface 38 is connected to the outer end of rod 34 and is of sufliciently large diameter to prevent the passage of the cap through aperture 3i), and is in the form of a tapered cone having a flattened outer end extremity. An impaler means 40 extends outwardly from the domed surface 38 a distance less than the thickness of web 28. The impaler member 40 is in coaxial alignment with the axis of rod 34 as illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. An inner surface 42 of cap 36 engages the outer surface 44 of web 28 and an inner surface 46 of the Web is wrapped around each of the respective first and second frame elements 24 and 26 as shown in FIGURE 2.

It should be noted that the web 28 is in the form of a first convolution 46 extending about, and in contact with, the respective frame elements and a second convolution 48 extending about, and in contact with the first convolution 46. Tension in the web causes the impaler 40 to engage and impale the inner surface 42 of web 28. Moreover, tension in the web also presses against cap 36 so as to insure that the entire fastening means 32 remains in position, with rod 34 remaining within the confines of aperture 27. The shape of impaler 40 is such that it does not eventually work its way completely through the Web as would a sharp pointed impaler.

Attachment of each web to the respective frame elements is accomplished in an extremely simple manner. The web 28 is initially heated in hot water to make it more pliable and to obtain a certain degree of elongation. Fasteners 32 are then passed through the aperture 30 on each end of the web so that the inner surface 42 of cap 36 engages the outer surface 44 of the web. Assuming that the fasteners have been inserted in this manner, attention is invited to FIGURE 3 which illustrates the manner in which the web is attached to frame elements 24 and 26. The first step in attaching the web to the frame members consists of inserting rod 34 of the leftmost fastening means illustrated in FIGURE 3 through apertures 37 in frame element 26. The web is then wrapped around the frame element 26 to form the inner convolution 46 and the outer convolution 48. It should be kept in mind that FIGURE 3 illustrates the frame members in an inverted position from that illustrated in FIGURE 1 in order to best illustrate the manner of fastening the web 28 to the respective frame elements 24 and After the leftmost end of web 28 has been attached to frame 26 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 3, the other end of the web is extended around frame element 24 with a loop being retained by the index finger of the person installing the web so as to enable the rightmost fastener 32 to be inserted into the desired aperture 27 in frame element 24. FIGURE 3 illustrates the position of the respective elements after the insertion of the fastening means. The loop retained in the installers hand is then moved over so as to be in line with the remainder of the web and the portion of the web attached to frame 24. The operator then releases the loop and cooling of the web results in tensioning of the web into fixed position and also causes the impalernent of the web onto impaler 40. The tension in the web also causes the outer convolution to urge the fastening member inwardly to retain it in aperture 27. It should be noted that the sides of the loop retained in the installers hand illustrated in FIGURE 3 are exaggerated for purposes of clarity.

It will, therefore, be apparent from the above deSCription that the subject invention is easily installed with a minimum of ditficulty and will remain in position without becoming loose in the manner of the prior art devices.

What is claimed is:

1. A furniture construction comprising first and second spaced frame elements, flexible webbing extending between said first and second frame elements and having an inner surface engaging said frame elements, fastening means for attaching each end of said web means respectively to said first and second frame means, said fastening means comprising an elongated rod extending through an aperture in said web means adjacent the end of said web means and also extending in and snugly received in an aperture in the respective frame member, a cap connected on one side to one end of said elongated rod and having an outer surface portion and being of a diameter sufficiently large to prevent passage of the cap through either of said apertures by virtue of engagement of said cap with the outer surface of said web means in abutting relationship, an impaler member extending a distance less than the thickness of said web means from said outer surface portion, said web means being wrapped in a first convolution about said respective frame member and in a second convolution about the first convolution so that said second convolution overlies said impaler member and tension in said web means causes said impaler member to impale said web.

2. The invention recited in claim 1 wherein said frame members are of tubular metal construction.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said elongated rod, said cap and said impaler means is of unitary metal construction.

4. The device of claim 2 wherein said elongated rod is of circular crosssectional shape and said cap is of circular cross-sectional shape and said outer surface is a domed surface from which said impaler member extends.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said elongated rod, said cap and said impaler means is of unitary metal construction.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said elongated rod is of circular cross-sectional shape and said cap is of circular cross-sectional shape and said outer surface is a domed surface from which said impaler member extends.

7. A fastener member for fastening web members to a supporting framework, said fastening member comprising: an elongated rod portion, a cap having a planar portion connected to said rod portion and a domed outer surface spaced away from said rod portion and impaler means aligned with said rod portion and extending from said domed surface.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said fastening means is formed of metal.

9. The invention of claim 8 wherein said impaler is of conical tapered shape and has a substantially flattened outer end extremity.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,070,037 3/ 1937 Weber. 2,080,761 5/1937 Crawford 297441 X 3,102,585 9/1963 Kramer 404 3,142,334 7/1964 Vanderrninder 160404 X 3,226,734 1/1966 Coventon 5-61 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

